Disappearing birds.....

[Grum P Oldamn]

Following 'expert' advice I have been sitting out from 2100 - 0100 and 0430 to 0730... "the times when foxes hunt" and certainly all my birds were taken in the evening/night time (although there is a debate about the strength of a fox and its ability to throw 1 mtr long planks that were screwed in with 3" screws...but we'll leave that story for another thread one day.

I have (homemade) snares set along trails, on logs that cross the stream at the back of the property and in the doorway to the goat compound (they are living in the forest at present but I have built a fortified rabbit and guineafowl pen in one of the outbuildings. I also sprinkle baking soda around the area to see any footprints...no joy yet, however I do have a very interesting PDF on trapping wild foxes in the UK so I will read that with great interest.

Sadly, it seems that this animal isn't sticking to the rules, at around 1700 yesterday a guineafowl was taken......now considering how many birds this creature has taken you can expect me to be upset, but it seems that taking this bird was the last straw, I am beside myself with anger and I am determined to take this [expletive] out, and most likely in the most painful manner possible. It's not that this bird was a particular favourite, or anything like that, I am just fed up of losing valuable stock, and the fact that it takes out the entire flock thus destroying the work to raise it that far, well, I am sick and tired of it.

Ok, I understand it's the price to pay for living in the countryside, if I am free ranging my birds then I have to accept loses (and yes, if I had 50 and lost two, although I would be ******, I can accept that, when I only have a breeding pair, or small group, losing two is the loss of that project) I accept that the animal has a right to live and it is only following natural instincts to survive and as we do, will always take the easiest option, I understand that it is not targeting me personally, I realise that this will be an ongoing battle, one predator will be replaced by another....but, enough is enough....I've looked around.... I have found a supplier of traps, they will be ordered, set and placed out, I'm also going to make a live trap which I can bait, and in my opinion will have more chance of catching something because of the enticement.....needless to say, once trapped it will be despatched with great pleasure.

 

[ivan3]

If I knew that I had bears in the area I'd spend all time and effort arranging for Ready Kilowatt to take over the majority of my predator suppression duties, i.e., Electric Fencing. Considering the fact that you also have wolves and Lynx in the area, and foxes as well, the ID of `what did what to what' becomes a time consuming and rather sad forensic exercise.

Primary difficulty is that nearly all predators will eventually change their schedules in order to eat regularly (here in the Midwest U.S. Coyotes/opossums/raccoon/foxes will often be seen in broad daylight in semi-urban/suburban areas) making ID by `normal' behavior rather useless.

So, a fox/Lynx/Wolf taking off with a Guinea in early evening? Yep.

Your noting the removal of meter-long planks that were secured by 3 inch screws would suggest that a more active defense would be the least onerous option (lots of juice to the fencing). When you do `free range' conduct it as an armed/supervised activity.

Good luck!

 

[Grum P Oldamn]

The bear isn't a major problem out here surprisingly..... I have seen the signs in the woodland and the local warden has confirmed that there is one that wanders around, being close to Estonia and Russia does mean that from time to time bears do cross the border into the area....that's Shengen for you.... LOL

My next visit into RIga will see me returning with a couple of sacks of lion crap, that might make a difference. I'm fully tooled up should any predator actually show it's face when I am around. My free ranging flock only get total freedom when I am working in the area and my dog is permanently outside (he does shoot off after something I have never seen regularly, always comes back with a smile on his face.

The one other thing I will be doing when i Riga is 'adopt' a couple more dogs from the compound there....

Just made a live trap with things I had lying around, it has a hair trigger so I am looking forward to hearing it being sprung tonight

 

[sourland]

Any luck?

 

[Nicole01]

Coyotes will do this. I just lost 3 hens. I hear and see the coyotes and they hunt morning, midday and dusk. They took my hens with me 20ft away. I just had put the dogs in the house.

I haven't free ranged since and I keep them in the run. My hubby added extra roosts in the run and that really helped with giving them extra space. They have a nice big run to begin with that nothing can get into. I have welded wire and hardware cloth with a steel roof and steel siding for shade. The door to let them out is locked. I just started a mealworm farm and I clip grass/weeds as well as sprout greens such as alfalfa for them. They also get alfalfa meal in their snacks or food to keep the eggs nice.

One of my hens survived the coyote attack and it skinned both her sides, she was bit to the bone. It's a miracle she's alive and healed 100% in 2 weeks time with daily with major antibiotics and washing the wounds daily. Her skin is bunched up on both sides and new skin grew over the open flesh.

The coyotes are still here and it's been 2-3 weeks since the attack. I still hear them yip right in my backyard. I don't even let any kids play there right now. We are trying to hunt them without success. A fox is smaller and there most likely would be feathers. Plus a fox would of taken your whole flock by now.

I'm assuming you just have one coyote right now or you'd have several missing at a time.

It's frustrating beyond believe. My best hens were eaten as well as my ultimate favorite hen. I can't keep my dogs outside roaming since they will protect our property and that includes those who come to our door.

I'm sorry your losing your flock. You might have to lock them up in a run for the time being.

 

[Grum P Oldamn]

Nothing yet..... another chicken was snatched outside my window last night, only to come back a few hours later as I was securing all the animals away. There were a bunch of feathers at the front of the house and a bunch at the back where I have a lilac bush (well about 10 mtrs by 4 mtrs of lilac forest) growing.... the fact that this one survived makes me think maybe it was a hawk that tried to take it.....

I have made a live trap and baited it with raw chicken carcases, give it a few days to see if that works, I've increased the number of snares and my neighbour has dropped off some traps this afternoon.

To secure the birds further I have fenced in the rest of the exterior goat pen and they are living in there with the rabbits & guinea fowl (the goats now live in the forest and seem well settled and more importantly well fed

I will update as soon as I have developments

 

[Grum P Oldamn]

Hi Nicole

I've built up 'secure' fencing around my goat pen that is stone built up to 4 ft high and then logs to about 8ft..... so now I have a secure run for them, I still let them out in the early evening for a quick hour to peck around then they go to bed, I've also laid out a live trap and snares, will be setting traps (that the neighbour dropped off) tomorrow. It's a price for living out in the sticks, if I had larger flocks the odd loss is 'acceptable' but at the moment I am running on breeding stock for this year, so every loss is a big one..... let's hope that I am successful in capturing the predator and then I can despatch and get back to 'normal' life

Having lost two almost full grown geese at the same time, as well as, the first time, ten ducklings and four goslings I wonder about what the predator is....

We don't get coyotes out here (I am living in Latvia on the border with Russia) but we do get wolf, lynx, bear and raccoon dog.... well whatever it is will make a nice hat for the winter

 

[Grum P Oldamn]

It's been a while since my last loss, my remaining guineas are now housed with the rabbits, covered by a double covering of wire netting and the chickens only free range when I am in the area, otherwise they are moved into the goat pen which has a similar double covering. Barney, my dog is living outside with them during the day and only comes in at night when everyone is secured away.

The snares have produced nothing, the live trap baited with chicken carcasses (from the local supermarket) has produced nothing, the foot traps have produced nothing, I've dusted pathways in and around the outbuildings, no tracks. I would have expected the predator to have returned by now. Of course, there is always the certainty that it will return, I'm not that stupid to think that my work has succeeded in dealing with the problem.

Next week I travel to Riga to collect some materials to make more live traps. I am also making some fox calls (they sound like distressed rabbits and watching Youtube they seem to work well) so, I will make one last concerted effort to catch the 'beast of Ape' (Ape is the local village - pronounced Arpa, not Ape although I am referred to as the Ape man by the ex pats in Riga LOL), if I am unsuccessful I will simply continue the routine of setting traps at night when the birds are put away and clear more land around the farmhouse to reduce the hiding places for any predator.

The day (or night) that I finally catch something I will most certainly report here....probably in a drunken state (nettle beer has that effect

).

So I am having to get back to planting, rebuilding, harvesting etc..... I need to take my veg crop in to prospective customers next week and need to concentrate on that......

 

[Nicole01]

I would suspect wolf then. A few years back I saw a lone grey wolf in my backyard. Yesterday I saw the coyote again. The coyote didn't run from me or the dogs, which scared me. My flock is now locked up.

I need a live trap. I have my own 2 dogs and 2 cats to worry about. My hubby has been trying to hunt it, but he is busy at work most the time.

 

[TiaRC]

I'm deffinately interested in what is taking your flock. I'm going thru something similar.